


It's Hard Not To Jump The Gun When It Comes To Love

by Lilluv



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Adoption, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bisexual Mike Wheeler, Cheating, Divorce, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Foster Care, Gay Will Byers, Healthy Relationships, Lesbian Maxine "Max" Mayfield, M/M, Marriage, Pansexual Eleven | Jane Hopper, Unhealthy Relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-10
Updated: 2020-12-13
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:27:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,688
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27998991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lilluv/pseuds/Lilluv
Summary: Mike and El got married right after high school and have a daughter but grew apart in college, so they got divorced. Mike feels so alone. What happens when he meets a single, hot art teacher named Will?
Relationships: Eleven | Jane Hopper/Maxine "Max" Mayfield, Will Byers/Mike Wheeler
Comments: 15
Kudos: 29





	1. Prologue

Mike and Eleanor (El for short) met in eighth grade when she and her dad moved to Hawkins for a fresh start after her mom passed away. The two hit it off right away and El quickly became a part of Mike's friend group, which at the time only consisted of Lucas and Dustin. They started dating the summer before their freshman year of high school and said 'I love you' for the first time over Christmas break that year. They really, truly believed that they were perfect for one another and that they would spend the rest of their lives together. So much so that, at the homecoming dance their senior year at Hawkins High, Mike proposed. El, of course, said yes. They couldn't picture their lives without each other.

Everyone was shocked when they found out El _wasn't_ pregnant. They thought the only reason they were getting married so young was because of a baby. But, no, they were just in love.

So, they started to plan their wedding. The two of them paid for the whole thing themselves. Their parents weren't exactly happy about them getting married so young, so they refused to chip in. They took what little they had in their savings and tried to make it as special as possible. They rented a Pavillion at the local park for the day, El got her dress at a thrift shop, they decorated with flowers they grew and picked themselves and white streamers from the dollar store. They made all their own food, with the help of Dustin and Lucas, and baked the cake themselves. They only invited about twenty-five people, so it wasn't that big anyway. Despite it being a small day where they only spent a couple hundred dollars, El and Mike thought it was perfect.

El got pregnant about a week after their wedding. Despite what everyone else believed, no, she wasn't pregnant at the wedding, and, yes, their baby was planned. They couldn't wait to start a family.

El was pregnant through most of their freshman year of college. Mike suggested she take a break year, but she didn't want to and insisted she could do it, and Mike knew not to try and stop her. She was hot-headed and rarely changed her mind on things (which was one of the reasons why he loved her), so he knew not to push her on it.

She gave birth in March of their freshman year to a beautiful baby girl named Gracie. They already lived in a two-bedroom house that they had rented right after they got married right near their school. They didn't want to live on campus with a baby. El finished her classes that year online.

After Gracie was born, El noticed that Mike began to grow distant from her. It didn't happen overnight. It was really slow. But, over spring break their sophomore year, she looked at him one day and didn't recognize the Mike who proposed to her over the microphone in front of the whole school at homecoming, or the Mike she married. The man in front of her wasn't her Mike.

Soon, she grew tired of her husband paying her very little attention. So, when she met a girl named Max in her Intro to ASL class at the beginning of her junior year that actually spared her a second glance, (she'd known she was pan since she was ten) she fell hard and fast.

Mike didn't actually find out about them until the middle of the second semester that year when El asked him for a divorce. Of course, he was angry that his wife had been cheating on him for the past six months, but he was more upset than anything. He really loved El and didn't want to lose her.

But, he signed the divorce papers anyway. He just wanted to make her happy.

It took Mike almost a year to get over his divorce. He didn't even take his wedding ring off until graduation day when he looked at it and decided that it was time to let go. El was gone and was with someone else. He needed to get on with his life.


	2. Meet Cute

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... the last chapter of this got a very different reaction than I expected. Because of this, I have turned on comment moderation on this piece, and I will not be allowing any negative comments to go up. Thank you for reading, and please try to keep an open mind.

El had moved out of their house and in with Max the summer between their junior and senior years of college, so Mike had been living alone (Technically, Gracie was there half the time) for a year now. Mike was always lonely when his daughter was with El.

Mike always made a point of doing something fun with Gracie whenever she was there. He wanted to make the most out of his time with his four-year-old before she started school in a year and a half and had friends of her own and wanted to hang out with them. So, he was always looking for something fun to do that didn't really cost much money (He was struggling to make ends meet, between rent and bills and supporting his daughter. He was so thankful he got a full ride through college or he wouldn't have been able to support himself). So, when he was scrolling through the community website on his phone one day looking for things to do, and he found a free art class at the community center, he was all for it.

He took Gracie to the class the next day and was shocked to see that the teacher was actually really hot. The ad said he was the elementary school art teacher, but he didn't think the guy would be so good-looking. Mike had known he was bi since he was little and had thought guys were hot before, but this guy was really really cute.

Mike pulled himself out of his trance and sat down with Gracie at a table, waiting for the class to start.

* * *

Will loved kids. Growing up, he always asked his mom for a little brother or sister, but she was already struggling to support herself and her two kids, so it never happened.

So, Will went to school to be an art teacher. He got a job in a small town (he distinctly remembers his older brother, Johnathan, calling it the place where people and dreams go to die). He started volunteering at the community center teaching kids art on Thursday afternoons.

One day, he was setting up for class when a tall dad with long black hair walked in with his daughter. Will immediately thought the guy was hot but didn't look too long because he didn't want to get caught staring. A quick glance at his left hand told him the man wasn't married. Or, at least, wasn't wearing a ring that day.

"Ok, guys, let's get started!" Will announced as the crowd settled in.

He got the group started on their craft for the day (making ladybugs whose wings flap), and he started circling the room to help people out who needed it like he always did, but he made it a point to talk to the little girl with the cute dad.

"Hey, sweetie," He smiled, crouching down in front of the table she was sitting at. "What's your name?"

"Gracie," The girl answered in a small voice, then buried her face in her dad's shirt.

"She's kinda shy," The dad explained, and Will laughed.

"Yeah, a lot of younger kids are." He explained, standing up. "Is this your first time here?"

"Yeah," The man responded. "I needed something to do with her during the day."

Gracie pulled herself out of her dad's shirt and went back to work coloring her ladybug.

"I'm Will," Will introduced himself, holding his hand out.

"Mike," The man responded, shaking his hand.

Someone called Will over, and he waved 'bye' to Mike, then reluctantly walked away.

* * *

The art class in and of itself wasn't super exciting, but the teacher, Will, was really hot, so he kept taking Gracie back every week. She did seem to enjoy it, but Mike was sure he was enjoying it more. But, his conversations with Will never really exceeded a few minutes about Gracie or some superficial things.

That is, until the day they ran into each other outside of the class.

Mike had to bring Grace to Chuck E. Cheese's for a birthday party for one of her friends that she met in preschool (she went two days a week for a few hours to get her used to time away from parents), and Mike decided to stay for the party when the mom offered.

Mike was sitting in the back on his phone when someone walked up to him.

"Hey, Mike," Will said, smiling.

"Hey, Will," Mike smiled, standing up, "Do you have kids here?"

"No, no," Will shook his head, smiling. "I'm watching my nephews today and I needed to get them out of my house before they broke everything that I own. They're ten and twelve and don't know how to just sit still."

Mike laughed, "Yeah, my sister's son is the same way. He's ten."

Their conversation flowed easily after that, and they exchanged numbers before they left.

They started texting on the daily, and Mike found himself smiling every time he saw Will's name pop up on the screen. They would talk on the phone for hours. Mike even caught himself falling asleep on the phone a few times like he was a teenager again. Mike wasn't going to lie, he was really enjoying that. he used to do that all the time with El back in high school. Once they got engaged, they did it almost every night.

It took a longer time than Mike would care to admit for him to admit to himself that he had feelings for Will. He just didn't know what to do about it.

When he was dating El, a lot of the things that he did for her were grand, romantic gestures. he asked her out by (badly) singing her a song that he wrote. He proposed to her in front of the entire school on stage at homecoming, for god's sake.

But Will didn't seem like a 'grand romantic gesture' guy. Hell, Mike didn't even know if Will was gay.

But he should give it a shot, right? Maybe he should just kiss Will and see where it goes. If he was wrong about this, it could ruin his friendship and make things awkward, but he needed to take that chance, he decided. He needed to know.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 3 will be up tomorrow!  
> Kisses!  
> Lilluv


	3. Moving Forward

Will started to feel things for Mike. Things he felt when he was a freshman in high school and had a crush on the captain of the baseball team, Jason, who was a senior and one of the most popular guys in school.

Mike was probably even less obtainable than Jason was. There was no way he was gay. He had told Will all about his ex-wife, El, and he could tell Mike really loved her. Maybe he was bi, right?

Whatever, it didn't matter. He couldn't date the parent of one of his students. But, was Gracie technically his student? She is, right? But, did the community center make rules about that? Will wasn't sure. But he assumed they didn't.

One day, though, the two of them were hanging out at a bar (Mike said Gracie was at her mom's house that day), when Mike just leaned over the table they were sitting at and kissed him.

Will grabbed a fist full of Mike's shirt and pulled him as close as he could get with the table between them. They ended up going back to Will's house and hooking up. Then they fell asleep.

* * *

Mike woke up the next morning in an unfamiliar space. it took him a few minutes to remember that he was at Will's house. In Will's bed. He hooked up with Will then spent the night in his bed.

Will was still asleep, and Mike wasn't sure what to do. Would Will want to see him when he woke up? He wasn't sure. Maybe he should just leave before Will wakes up.

But, he was too late. Will started to stir and wake up, and he turned to face Mike.

"Good morning," Will smiled, then kissed Mike chastely on the lips. Mike smiled involuntarily. "Do you want breakfast?"

Mike was a little taken aback by the request, but he quickly recovered and smiled. "Sure," he responded.

Will got out of bed and pulled on a pair of sweatpants, then walked out of the room. Mike got up and pulled his jeans from the night before on and walked around, looking for the bathroom.

Mike actually really liked Will's place. it was charming and quaint, despite the small size. It's not that he was too drunk to remember anything from last night, he had only had one drink, but he was too preoccupied with Will to notice anything around him.

Mike found the bathroom, then went downstairs to find Will in the kitchen making scrambled eggs and toast. Mike offered to help, but Will just shooed him away and told him to sit down. It was nice to not have to cook for once.

They had breakfast together, and much to Mike's surprise, it wasn't awkward at all. In fact, they made plans to watch a movie at Mike's place the next night.

After that, they spent the night together every night that Mike didn't have Gracie. El asked him about why he seemed so much happier lately, and she was actually happy for him when he told her about Will. El then told her that she was planning to propose to Max. And Mike was genuinely happy for her, which was new. Every time she talked about her before, Mike got jealous. But now that he was happy with his relationship, he could be happy for El and Max with theirs.

That did get Mike thinking, though. Were he and Will in a relationship? Despite the fact that they spent most nights together, they never really talked about it. Mike didn't want to bring it up and ruin what he had with Will, but he felt like he had to.

"Hey, I have a question," Mike brought up when he was sitting in Will's arms on his couch watching a movie.

"What is it?" Will asked, looking at Mike.

Mike thought about it for a second. How would he ask? He didn't want to sound too forward, but he also didn't want to be too vague, either. He decided that forward was the better option.

"Are we together?" Mike asked after a silence that stretched on too long. "Like, _together_ together?"

"What is this, high school?" Will laughed, then kissed him on the forehead. "Of course we are if that's what you want."

"Yeah, it is what I want," Mike smiled. He kissed Will softly on the lips before both of them returned their focus back to the movie.

* * *

Will thought it was cute that Mike asked if they were together. Like, _together_ together. He hadn't heard that since he was a sophomore in high school. But, like he said, it was cute.

He really does like Mike, though. He's sweet and funny and has really nice hair, and spending time with him was easy. He was also a great kisser, but that's beside the point.

But, he felt like they had been stuck in this holding pattern for a while. He wanted to move forward in their relationship, but he didn't want to push Mike. he knew being in a relationship with someone who has a kid would be complicated, but he did want to move forward. He already knew Gracie, so meeting her wasn't an issue, but he wasn't sure if she knew that they were together or not.

He also thought that he might be falling in love with Mike, but that is neither here nor there.

"Hey, I need to talk to you," Will brought up while they were on a dinner date one day, right around their six month anniversary.

"What's up?" Mike asked.

"I feel like we're... stuck," Will said. "I don't want to push you into anything you don't want to do. But," Will took a deep breath. "I think I love you, Mike, and I want to be a bigger part of your life."

Mike smiled, easing some of the nerves Will was feeling. "I want that, too, Will. And I love you, too."

Will moved into Mike's house with Gracie about a month later (he wanted to give her time to get used to Will being around more before he just moved in, which he understood and he was happy to wait). It was great. And it was so much better than needing to do the slut rush home before Gracie woke up on nights that he came over when she was there.

Will was happy, and it took him a long time to get there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fourth and final chapter going up tomorrow!


	4. Epilogue

Mike didn't go to Max and El's wedding. He was happy for them, he really was, but the last thing El needed was her ex-husband at her wedding. So, he helped by watching Gracie while they were away for two weeks for their honeymoon, hoping that they wouldn't mind doing the same if Mike and Will got married.

Woah, what? If they got married? Did his mind really just go there? He wasn't opposed to it, but he wasn't one hundred percent sure where he stood on it, either.

Will and Mike had been together for about two years now, them living together for about a year and a half of it. And it was great. Mike knew he was lonely living alone, but he didn't realize how bad it was until Will moved in. His walls were almost bare for the time that El was gone since most of the stuff hanging was hers. Will brought all the art he made in college and the photo prints he and his brother took throughout the years, and it really made the house feel more like a home again.

It only took a few days to get used to the idea of maybe marrying Will. He loved him more than words could say, and he couldn't picture his life without him. El had very obviously moved on, and he wanted to take the next step with Will, too.

So he bought a ring. It was just a simple black band with a small sapphire encased in it, but it seemed perfect. Will was never one for gold or silver or diamonds anyway, so Mike was hopeful that he would love it.

Mike now just needed to pick a time to propose. He didn't want to do it at some fancy restaurant or something, since it wasn't really their style. So, he did it at an art gallery instead. He made sure they were alone in one of the rooms of the gallery before he did it, though. He knew Will wasn't big on PDA, so he would definitely hate Mike if he did that in a crowded place.

Will said it was perfect.

* * *

Will loved his wedding day with Mike. It was perfect, and exactly what he always imagined. Small and intimate, with only the family and close friends under a tent in their backyard.

Then they truly started their lives together. They got a foster license and started helping children so that they could have a better life. That's all Will ever wanted - for children to have a happy life. They adopted a few of the kids that came through their house - a seven-year-old boy named Eddy, a thirteen-year-old girl named Abby, a two-year-old girl named Ellie, and a fifteen-year-old non-binary kid named Tarot. All of them loved Gracie like a sister (they would not have adopted them otherwise), and they were all happy.

* * *

Mike woke up one morning to the sound of shouting coming from the kitchen. He rolled over and nudged Will awake, then got dressed and stumbled out of his room and down the stairs towards the noise, his husband not too far behind.

"What's going on in here?" Mike asked as he surveyed the scene in front of him. Gracie, Eddy, and Ellie were all sitting at the kitchen table with cereal bowls in front of them, and Tarot and Abby were standing in the middle of the kitchen with a broken glass bowl between them.

"They started it!" Abby exclaimed, pointing at Tarot.

"That's so not true!" Tarot fired back, lifting their foot to take a step when Will interjected.

"Don't move!" He called into the room, walking out of the room for a moment, then coming back with shoes on and a broom in hand. He walked in and started cleaning up the mess.

"Tell me calmly what happened," Mike said, gesturing to the mess that Will was cleaning.

"I wanted to cook pancakes-" Tarot started, but was cut off by Abby.

"And I told them that they should wait for you two to get up so that they didn't _burn the house down_ ," Abby yelled.

Will finished cleaning the mess, then turned to his children. "Stop yelling, and go finish getting ready for school,"

The two teens begrudgingly turned and walked upstairs.

Mike walked up to his husband with a smile. "Good morning, babe," He smiled.

"Good morning," Will responded, pulling him in for a quick kiss.

"Eww," Chorused the three kids at the table. The two men laughed, kissing each child on the head in turn.

They ushered their four oldest kids onto the bus and drove Ellie to her daycare down the road. Then, they sat down on the couch with their coffees for the fifteen minutes a day they had alone together after the kids left, but before they had to leave for work.

Mike sighed happily and put his head on his husband's shoulder, and Will put his arm around Mike's shoulders. Their lives are crazy, and a little weird, but they are together, and they have little moments like this, and everything was good and ok.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! I know that this story was a little controversial (especially the first chapter), but I hope you enjoyed it none-the-less, because I really enjoyed writing it.   
> Comments and Kudos are always appreciated!  
> -Lilluv

**Author's Note:**

> A lot of people have asked me about doing an alternate version where Mike and El don’t get divorced. I will not be doing that because, honestly, I like my story the way it is, and it’s also reflective of real life in some ways. My parents got divorced when I was six. Did it suck? Yeah. But, was it one of the best things that could have ever happened to me? Also yes. Because of that, both of my parents got remarried, and I have two wonderful stepsisters, a stepbrother, and a baby sister and baby brother that I love very much. I also have four parents rather than two, which is awesome. If my parents had stayed together, I was probably in for a life of listening to them fight all the time, and nobody wanted that. So, moral of the story is, people get divorced. That’s just how it goes. And, if I want to use my life experiences to write a story, that’s up to me and no one else. So, no, I will not be writing an alternate version. Thank you to everyone who read my story, and positive comments and kudos are always appreciated.  
> Kisses!  
> -Lilluv


End file.
